mini bedroom home theatre setup - no idea what I need

[geoffn]

Hi all,

My gear: Macbook Pro, iTouch
What I want to buy: LCD or Plasma TV, home stereo
Environment: very small bedroom
Music listening habits: all over the place -- indie rock, acoustic and instrumental, electronica, rap, etc

I've moved to a new place, and I want to kit out my bedroom with a decent audio/visual setup. I went down to the Apple store in London and demo'd the various Harmon Kardon and Bose Companion 3 & 5 speaker setups they have there, all of which sounded OK to me. Then I did a bit of research online and picked up all the backlash around Bose, and also realized that I might want to get a receiver, which I hadn't considered previously, and basically realized I don't even really know what I'm looking for. So I thought I'd try and find someone who can give me a steer in the right direction, hopefully this is the place.

Basically, I want to get an LCD or plasma TV and a compact stereo with a nice full sound. I want the TV to play through the stereo, and want to be able to dock my iPod and play it into the stereo, or stream from my laptop. Ideally I want to stream video from my laptop to the TV as well.

I think given my space requirements and the fact I'm not looking to go crazy on cost, I probably need to get a receiver and a pair of good bookcase speakers, is that about right? Budget is lower to mid-range I would guess, not audiophile but not cheap. In the $500-$1,000 range for the stereo I'm hoping, but may need my expectations reset.

Any recommendations or pointers in the right direction would be appreciated.

Cheers,

Geoff

[f0rge]

for a receiver i'd get this:
http://www.onkyo.ca/model.cfm?m=TX-S...s=Receiver&p=i

for speakers i'd get these:
http://www.bowers-wilkins.com/displa...fid=2301&sc=hf

receiver you can probably get for ~$300 and speakers ~$600, rough estimates but i wouldnt pay much more than that.

that will give you a really nice 2 channel setup in your budget that you can easily expand to 5.1 if you so desire.

if those speakers are breaking the bank, look into used paradigm mini monitors or monitor 3s, v3 or v4 would be ideal. figure ~$300 for either of these.

[blackraven]

I agree with the Onkyo 605, but if it cost too much you can always drop down to the 505 or look at some of the entry level yamaha's or pioneers.

A few other speakers to look at are in order of increasing price-infinty primus 162's, infinity beta 20's, NHT Absolute Zero's, PSB Alpha B's, NHT Classic Two's, Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 or 9.2's, B&W 686's. These are all very good sounding speakers for the money. For a very good inexpensive sub, I like the Mirage S8 or Energy S8 which is the same sub as the mirage. The infinity primus are cheap but have great sound, they are a stereophile magazine recommended budget speaker along with the PSB alpha and NHT's. Here in the U.S. the primus 162's can be had for $200 a pair. They make a matching center channel which is not bad either.

[HarmonicsReview]

Check out my objective review at:
http://harmonicsreview.wordpress.com/
I'll be posting more reviews soon.

[HarmonicsReview]

Since its for a bed room, go for a T-amp. I have a Trends T-amp, but any other brand that does not use really cheap components is going to work well.
Prior to the T-amp I had the Harman Kardon HK 3490, and the sound quality is not even close to my T-amp. Plus, T-amps are more affordable.